bitTrack

Release Date: 2014

Language Used:

Objective-C

Software Used:

Xcode

Platforms:

iOS

About:

bitTrack is an app all about Bitcoin, or more specifically, monitoring Bitcoin addresses. Since there is no official Bitcoin app, and since most other monitoring apps were either visually unappealing or didn't provide enough features, I decided to code my own.

The app pulls Bitcoin data from blockchain.info, one of the most popular websites for getting Bitcoin blockchian data. The website has a free JSON API, among others, for accessing history for a given address. bitTrack also pulls current pricing data from the website using the same API. This data is then stored in the app's Core Data storage, Apple's built-in data management system.

This is the first app I encounted difficulties with getting on the iOS App Store, due to Apple's stance on Bitcoin. Although it was eventually published, it took a few extra weeks and phone calls with Apple, explaining that the app can't actually perform transactions, just view histories on Bitcoin addresses.

Bitcoin URI Parsing

Bitcoin uses a special Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) to store things like the Bitcoin address, its name (also called its label), a transaction amount and a message. bitTrack only recognizes the first two, since the app doesn't manage Bitcoin transactions. This code parses a Bitcoin URI for the address and its name.